Markéta Gerlichová, Music Therapy in Practice: Stories of Music Therapy Journey... 307
ISBN 1643-0115 ISSN 2083-1226
© Copyright by Institute of Music of the Pomeranian University in Słupsk
Markéta Gerlichová, Music Therapy in Practice: Stories of Music Therapy Journey1, Grada, Prague 2014, pp. 136
In 2014 the publishing house of Grada in Prague released the book entitled Music Therapy in Practice: Stories of Music Therapy Journey written by Markéta Gerli-chová. Since 1996 the authoress works as an assistant professor at the First Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic. Her research and work has been devoted to music therapy in persons with brain injury. She lectures home, abroad, is the delegate for the Czech Republic in European Music Therapy Confederation (EMTC) and is a member of Czech Music Therapy Association (CZMTA).
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M. Gerlichová, Muzikoterapie v praxi: Příběhy muzikoterapeutických cest, 1st ed. Praha, Grada Publishing 2014.
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In ten chapters of her publication the authoress deals with basic themes that are fundamental for music therapy process. She summarises her experience with music therapy and provides practical examples of the work with diverse types of disorders, diseases and therapeutic targets. Within her private practice she focuses on cognitive therapy, movement training, family therapy, breathing exercises and voice problems of persons with special needs and on the development of their personalities.
The first chapter, Music Therapy deals with the impact of musical art on a human being and its potency to activate emotions and develop personality, as well as the im-pact of audible perception on human physiological processes. She considers music to be the tool that can induce relaxation and stimulation, help to prevent stress, release stress, that can improve the quality of life and self-knowledge in personal problem solving.
The second chapter, Music Therapy as the Journey to Harmonisation, is based on the perception of human being as a bio-psycho-social-spiritual existence, that can be lead to harmony and balance. The authoress depicts the impact of psychosomatic disorders on majority of physical systems and introduces particular exercises aimed at personality harmonisation.
In the third chapter, Music Therapy in Health Care, the authoress deals with the rehabilitation and neurorehabilitation focusing on movement, communication and cognition, potency of music for patients with Parkinson’s disease (to improve their gait, stability and the level of movement). Then she deals with music therapy in ergotherapy, speech therapy and rehabilitation of cognitive functions. She concludes the chapter with the application of music in palliative medicine.
The fourth chapter, Elements of Music Therapy in Education, can inspire not only professionals in the sector of education, but also professionals in social work or psychologists. The chapter introduces several methods useful in education, especially in the development of empathy in order to understand certain expressions of children. It also introduces some methods useful during the training of certain skills by means of music therapy. In educational process music activities are used to motivate children and bring joy to schools.
The fifth chapter, Music Therapy and Social Work, reflects the view of philosophi-cal anthropology on the impact of music on society. It is devoted to relationships be-tween individuals, groups, communities, aims at improvement of quality of life and development of full potential of each human being. The authoress explains the potency of music to affect the society, its politics and mood. However, this aspect of music therapy needs to be further cultivated, developed and investigated.
In the sixth chapter, Music Therapy and Psychotherapy, the authoress introduces music therapy and psychotherapy as the source of the journey of self-recognition of a human being, but also the therapeutic approach in various problems. These fields can mutually complement each other and therapists can apply them in helping themselves and the others.
The seventh chapter, Music Therapy of Clients with Special Needs, deals with po-tency of music therapy on persons with special needs in the field of visual and auditory perception, for persons with motor, mental or multiple disabilities and for patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It depicts briefly the differences that can complicate the lives of persons with special needs.
Markéta Gerlichová, Music Therapy in Practice: Stories of Music Therapy Journey... 309
In the eighth chapter, Music Therapy Method Ikapus, the authoress introduces methodological approach of her own method appointed for the work with clients in music therapy process. The method can be applied in the field of prevention of prob-lems arising from unbalanced lifestyle; in the treatment of certain diseases, as the part of multidisciplinary therapy, or as a single therapeutic approach; in rehabilitation of various diseases and injuries that lead to improved overall health and functional status of the individual; but also as a means of motivation and activation of employees.
Two last chapters introduce music therapy meetings, depict its phases and summa-rise the responses of eight participants and the potency of music therapy on them. In the ninth chapter, The Stories of Music Therapy Journey, the authoress depicts music therapy meetings, summarises and evaluates the responses of its participants. The last chapter, Music and Music Therapy for Life, deals with possibility to apply music ther-apy in various fields of our society, in education, everyday life, medicine, psychology, sociology and so on. She reflects the safe use of music therapy and describes the re-sponsibility of music therapist and techniques he or she uses.
The style of a monograph is professional that predetermines it for health care pro-fessiionals, psychologists or teachers who use music therapy and music in their work. It can also be useful for the students of physiotherapy, nursing, social work and special pedagogy, but also to those who are interested in the problem of music therapy.
Eva Kralova
Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín Trenčín, Slovak Republic
Eva Kralova
